KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chairman Clark Hunt introduced the new general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs by saying Brett Veach would be an upgrade over his predecessor, John Dorsey.
"I don't know that we had a mess on our hands. We just had a situation where I felt we had to get better,'' Hunt said, citing "issues" within the football operation that caused him some alarm. He would not specify those issues.
"There was no one issue that I would point to,'' Hunt said. "There was no one single thing that led me to the decision. It was an overall evaluation of the department. In order to build a championship team, you have to have a personnel department that is operating on a very high level. I would say John did a very good job for us. But I had concerns about our ability to sustain the success we had.
"It's never easy to part ways with somebody you're fond of. I had a great personal relationship with John and [he] played a big role in the success we've had in the last four years. But really the decision was about making the Kansas City Chiefs better. We have very high aspirations. We want to compete for a championship every year. We want to get to a Super Bowl and win it. I just felt if we were going to do that in the next three or four years, we needed to make a change.''
Veach, 39, is the youngest general manager in the NFL. He joined the Chiefs in 2013 and has been their co-director of player personnel the past two seasons.
Veach will have control over the 53-player roster, Hunt said. Veach and coach Andy Reid will report directly to Hunt, continuing an arrangement the Chiefs operated under with Dorsey as their general manager.
Hunt said Veach's vision for building the Chiefs' roster stood out to him in the interview process.
"Obviously the focus right now is on the 2017 season and he's going to do what he can to make the Chiefs better,'' Hunt said. "But I think he also understands the decisions that he makes today are going to have a big impact in 2018, 2019 and beyond.
"He has a good focus on the important positions that you need to focus on. Obviously, it starts with the quarterback and then goes to the line on both sides of the ball and the importance of being strong on the lines and building a team that way.''
Veach said: "In the NFL, it's important to lay out proactively a three-year plan and to know what you want to do with certain players and how you want to build this thing. You've got to marry all of those things. Free agency, the draft, it all has to kind of be a cohesive deal.''